30660 - Russian Literature 2 (2nd cycle)

Learning outcomes

Acquiring deeper knowledge of modern and contemporary Russian literature. Developing  critical approaches to the literary text.

Course contents

The aim of the course is presenting a gallery of female characters in 19th and 20th century Russian literature. The role of woman in Russian society and its representation in Russian literature will be discussed against the background of social and political events of Russian history. There will be also some comparisons between the attitudes of male writers and female writers as to the presentation of female characters.

Lessons are open to GEMMA students, in case they do not know Russian, lessons will be held in English or Italian.

Readings/Bibliography

Provisional list of the literary works to be analyzed (it is advisable to read as many texts as possible /in any language and edition/ in order to be able to follow the lectures):

Karamzin:Bednaja Liza

Puskin: Evgenij Onegin, Kapitanskaja docka, , etc.

Gogol' Ukrainian and S. Petersburg tales

Lermontov: Geroj nashego vremeni ; Demon

Dostoevskij : Prestuplenie i nakazanie, Idiot, Krotkaja; Xozjaika; Zapiski iz Podpol'ja

Turgenev  Pervaja Ljubov' Otsy i deti, Nakanune ,

Tolstoj: Semejnoe schastie;, Anna Karenina, Voskresen'e

Cechov: a selection of stories and theatrical pieces

Gor'kij: Mat'

Zamjatin:My

Platonov: Fro

 Pasternak: Dottor Zivago

-Bulgakov: Master i Margarita

some texts byTolstaja, Palej, Tokareva, Ulickaja, Petrusevskaja ecc.

Some critical texts to be prepared along with the literaty ones:

Andrew, Joe Narrative and desire in Russian literature, 1822-49: the feminine and the masculine, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1993

Andrew, Joe, Women in Russian Literature, 1780-1863, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1988

Astman, M., Evoljucija zenskich obrazov v tvorcestve Puskina, “Zapiski Russkoj Akademiceskoj Gruppy-Transactions of the Association of Russian-American Scholars”, 20, 1988, pp. 57-69

Benson, Ruth Crego, Women in Tolstoy: the Ideal and the Erotic, Urbana [etc.]; London: University of Illinois Press, 1973

Costlow, J.T., Sexuality and the body in Russian culture / edited by Jane T. Costlow, Stephanie Sandler, Judith Vowles: Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1993

Edmondson, Linda Harriet, Women and society in Russia and the Soviet Union, edited by Linda Edmondson, Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992

Gasiorowska, Xenia, Women in Soviet fiction. 1917-1967, Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1968

Gray, Francine Du Plessis, The Russian Heroine: Gender, Sexuality and Freedom, “Michigan Quarterly Review”, 1989, vol. 28, n. 4, pp. 699-718

Heldt, Barbara, Terrible perfection: women and Russian literature, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, c1987

Maegd-Soëp, Carolina de:Chekhov and women: Columbus, Ohio: Slavica, c1987

Mandelker, Amy: Framing Anna Karenina: Tolstoy, the woman question, and the Victorian novel, Series:The Theory and interpretation of narrative series:Columbus: Ohio State University Press, c1993

Pacini, L., La tragedia nella camera da letto. Il dramma coniugale di Sonja e Lev Tolstoj,  Roma, edizioni e/o, 1985.

Porter, C., Donne in rivolta nella Russia zarista, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1977

Siegel, G.,  The Fallen Waman in 19th Century Russian Literature, “Harvard Slavic Studies”, vol. V, 1970

Spendel, J., Il silenzio delle albe, Torino, Tirrenia stampatori, 1993

Stellman, J., Raskol'nikov and his Women, “Russian Literature”, 54:1, 2003, pp. 279-96

Stites, Richard: The women's liberation movement in Russia: feminism, nihilism and bolshevism, 1860-1930, Princeton; Guildford: Princeton University Press, 1978

Tanner, Tony, L'adulterio nel romanzo: contratto e trasgressione, Genova: Marietti, 1990

White, Nicholas and Segal, Naomi. Scarlet letters: fictions of adultery from antiquity to the 1990s  - London; New York: Macmillan press, c1997

 

 

Teaching methods

Lectures, reading and analysis of texts, slides, film clips and viewing relevant internet sites.

Assessment methods

Students will be required to to write an essay (possibly in Russian) on a topic connected with the course to be discussed during the exam. 

NB. GEMMA and Erasmus students are required to write an essay in English or Italian on a topic to be agreed with the Professor.

Teaching tools

Lectures, showing audio-visual materials, surfing the internet for relevant sites, analysis of literary texts.

Office hours

See the website of Gabriella Elina Imposti